''Ya Nass'' is the debut solo album by the Lebanese singer

Yasmine Hamdan Yasmine Hamdan ( ar, ياسمين حمدان; born 1976) is a Lebanese singer and songwriter, now based in Paris. Biography Hamdan became known with Soapkills, the duo she founded with Zeid Hamdan (no relation) while she was still living in B ...

, previously a member of the band

Soap Kills Soapkills or Soap Kills (in Arabic الصابون يقتل read as "As-Saboun Yaqtol") is an indie electro-pop band based in Lebanon. The group was formed in October 1997 when Zeid Hamdan and Yasmine Hamdan, both born in Beirut in 1976 but not ...

and one half of the duo

Y.A.S. Y.A.S. is an electronic music duo, formed in 2007 in Paris, France, and consists of Mirwais Ahmadzaï (keyboard/guitar) and Yasmine Hamdan (vocals). The duo began recording their debut album, '' Arabology'', in 2007. Ahmadzaï wanted to create a ...

The album was originally given a limited release, in France and Lebanon, on the French Kwaidan label in 2012, under the title ''Yasmine Hamdan''. It was released internationally by

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 375 albums and 275 ...

in April 2013, under the title ''Ya Nass'', featuring five new songs. It was produced by

Marc Collin Marc Collin is a French musician, film music composer and record producer. He is best known as the founder, with Olivier Libaux, of the project Nouvelle Vague, a cover band that covers new wave songs in a bossa nova style. Collin also released a ...

, best known for his new wave covers project

Nouvelle Vague French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

Overview

The album's title translates from Arabic as "Hey People". Hamdan has described the album as being influenced by the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

uprisings of 2010, "Ya Nass is a like an invitation, a call to a single person or a crowd ... It could be an echo of the movements that are taking place in the Arab world." She added, "At first when the revolutions started I felt very stimulated and free, I felt that the youth had at last begun to have a voice. But I also know that these things take time and that the situation in the region is complicated." The album features a mixture of original compositions and reworkings of older songs from the 1930s and 1940s, including songs by the Egyptian composer

Mohammed Abdel Wahab ''Mohamed Abdel Wahab'' ( ar, محمد عبد الوهاب), also transliteration, transliterated ''Mohamed Abd El-Wahhab'' (March 13, 1902 – May 4, 1991), was a prominent 20th-century Egyptian singer, actor, and composer. He is best known fo ...

and the singer

Leila Mourad Leila Mourad or Layla Morad ( ar, ليلى مراد; February 17, 1918 – November 21, 1995) was an Egyptian singer and actress, and one of the most prominent superstars in Egypt and the entire Arab world in her era. Born Lilian Zaki Ibrahim Mo ...

. It also includes the song "Hal", which Hamdan performs in the vampire film ''

Only Lovers Left Alive ''Only Lovers Left Alive'' is a 2013 fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, Slimane Dazi and John Hurt. An international co-producti ...

'' (2013), directed by

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

. Hamdan wrote the song for the film; the lyrics concern a woman who complains about "a vampirising love affair".

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote, "She has a sultry, seductive voice and gift for melody that is reminiscent of

Souad Massi Souad Massi (سعاد ماسي; born August 23, 1972), is an Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist. She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threa ...

, and her best songs rely on acoustic guitar rather than the swirling synths."

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's reviewer described Hamdan as "one of the most free-thinking and inventive artists singing in Arabic today," and said of the album that it "is full of ... subtle references to the past, but you don't need to understand them to appreciate the songs."

Track listing

''Yasmine Hamdan''

Original track listing on the Kwaidan release: #In Kan Fouadi #Beirut #Samar #Baaden #Ya Nass #Irss #Nediya #Nag #Shouei #La Mouch #Bala Tantanat #Zarani re-Order Only#Khalas re-Order Only

''Ya Nass''

Track listing on the Crammed Discs release: #Deny #Shouei #Samar #Enta Fen, Again #La Mouch #Nediya #Beirut #Aleb #Bala Tantanat #In Kan Fouadi #Hal #Khayyam #Ya Nass #Khalas (iTunes only) #Zarani (iTunes only)

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Yasmine Hamdan albums Arabic-language albums